Monthly Archives: June 2007

E.J. Dionne is outraged by the work this term of the Supreme Court’s new additions, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. It’s predictable enough that the liberal Dionne would end up unhappy with the non-liberal Roberts and Alito, but Dionne’s attack is largely incoherent. Dionne is most upset by the decision striking down the McCain-Feingold law to the extent that it banned several ads by a right-to-life organization, aired fewer »

I haven’t paid much attention to MSM coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision this week striking down two race-based school assignment systems. My information has come from the opinions of the Justices and from a few law blogs. However, the MSM blurbs I’ve seen seemed more designed to alarm than to inform. So too with This story in the Washington Post. For one thing, it states that “the court’s four-member »

In his short dissent Justice Stevens seems more interested in walking down memory lane than in dealing with the facts of these cases. Moreover, the reliability of Stevens’ historical musing is subject to doubt. Stevens concludes with this line: “It is my firm conviction that no Member of the Court that I joined in 1975 would have agreed with today’s decision.” Stevens offers no survey of the jurisprudence of any »

Tom Joscelyn wrote to point out this piece in today’s Washington Post by former DIA intelligence analyst Christina Shelton. Shelton says that George Tenet misrepresents a presentation authored by her in his book, At the Center of the Storm: That day I summarized a body of mostly CIA reporting (dating from 1990 to 2002), from a variety of sources, that reflected a pattern of Iraqi support for al-Qaeda, including high-level »

The would-be dual car bomb attack in London has been followed up by an apparent terrorist attack at Glasgow’s airport: An apparent car bomb attack has been attempted at Glasgow Airport’s main terminal a day after police foiled a possible al Qaeda plot to detonate two car bombs in central London. Witnesses have reported that a blazing Cherokee jeep containing two Asian-looking men appeared to ram the terminal building at »

There were two car bombs in London’s West End yesterday; as the Sun reports in its inimitable style, the apparent al Qaeda plot was foiled by “a drunken reveller, a hero cop and a car clamper.” Thanks to London’s network of security cameras, it is being reported that the police have a clear video of a would-be bomber fleeing the car that was discovered next to a well-known night club. »

I think the Democrats are making a bad mistake by trying to resurrect the “Fairness” Doctrine. It’s a political loser for them, and obviously unconstitutional to boot (not that they mind that). This cartoon is by Paul Nowak; click to enlarge: »

I have yet to see a fair retrospective on either round 1 or round 2 of the immigration bill fiasco. I spoke this week with senior Senate staffers on background and with Senator Norm Coleman in a telephone press conference following the failure of the bill in its second incarnation. I asked Senator Coleman about the “cramdown” process that was used to advance the legislation in the Senate. Senator Coleman »

Last fall we drew attention to Peter Schramm’s essay “Born American, but in the wrong place.” Peter and his family left Hungary after the Communist revolution and made their way to America, thanks to the sagacity of Peter’s father: [W]ith the revolution failing, everyone expected that the Communist boot was going to come down harder than ever. But before we had more opportunities to experience it, an odd accident set »

I’ve had some time to reflect on the Supreme Court’s decision in the race-based school assignment cases. Collectively the five opinions add up to more than 180 pages. So in the interest of readability, I’ll divide my discussion among several posts. The case involves two school assignment plans: one for high school students in Seattle and one for elementary school students in Kentucky. In Seattle, 41 percent of the students »

From Taiwan’s Taipei Times: Former US vice president Al Gore will not be able to make it to Taiwan this September to address the issue of global warming, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said yesterday. Tien, who invited Gore to visit Taiwan to promote awareness on global warming, told reporters yesterday that she received an e-mail from the Harry Walker Agency, which has the exclusive right to arrange »

Late last night, London police discovered a car near Piccadilly Circus that was packed with gasoline, propane and nails. An ambulance crew saw smoke coming from the vehicle, which led to the discovery. Authorities say the car bomb, which was parked outside a large night club, could have killed hundreds of people. The photo below is of the vehicle, a Mercedes, being towed away. UPDATE: The London Times has more »

Yesterday in “U.S. shields an accused killer,” Eli Lake told the story of the American refusal to participate in the apprehension of the Iraqi culture minister charged in the attempted murder of Iraqi parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi and the murder of his two sons. Today Lake follows up with a story here. The New York Sun declares this “A moment of truth.” Michael Ledeen elaborates: Alusi »

This morning we conclude our previews of the new (Summer) issue of the Claremont Review of Books (subscribe here). The issue is up to the CRB’s usual standards and full of good stuff. Even the ads are good. Hillsdale College announces that it is republishing the multivolume authorized biography of Churchill (including the companion document volumes) by Martin Gilbert. The CRB itself announces that it is looking for an assistant »

Kathryn Lopez draws attention to the New York Times photo taken in the Senate yesterday (caption: “Day laborers from the Washington area gathered in the Senate to wait for the results of the immigration cloture vote”). Kathryn asks: “Do idiots run Washington?” I believe that the distinguished gentleman looking down from the portrait is none other than the original Grand Bargaineer himself: Henry Clay. If so, the photo is a »